A company in Manchester has decided to give all of its staff the day off on Friday to show how much it “appreciates” them.
As this Friday (3 March) is Employee Appreciation Day, Sellick Partnership – a recruitment company with a base right here in Manchester city centre – has made the, presumably pretty popular, decision to give its all its staff across the UK an extra day off to properly mark the annual holiday.
Founded in 2002, Sellick Partnership has seven offices across the UK and employs over 100 people.
The company specialises in recruitment services in the finance and accountancy, legal, HR, housing and property services, actuarial, procurement, change and transformation, ICT and digital technology, wealth and investment management, and senior and executive sectors.
It was named as one of the best places to work in the UK last year – and if it’s handing out free days off, then perhaps it’s not that hard to see why, right?
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Next Friday is #EmployeeAppreciationDay and in line with our tradition of giving back, we will be giving every member of staff the full day off. We are grateful to everyone that works at Sellick Partnership not just on Employee Appreciation Day, but every day! pic.twitter.com/5qxkHRx3us
In previous years, the business has allowed its employees to finish early and enjoy a free lunch on them, but this year, the firm has decided to take things one step further to show how much staff are appreciated by giving them an extra day off, not included in their annual leave allowance.
“We are dedicated to creating an environment that enables each individual to thrive,” said managing director Jo Sellick told the MEN.
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“The secret to the success of Sellick Partnership is the people that we employ.
“We want all staff to come into the office in the morning and enjoy their time at work, as that’s what it’s all about, so we try to create a platform that will make a difference to the lives of our people and in turn we hope this will help many more, by providing a tailored and compassionate approach to recruitment.
Manchester company to give all staff the day off on Friday to show ‘appreciation’ / Credit: Sellick Partnership
Sellick Partnership explained that any staff member already off on annual leave this Friday will be able to cancel their holiday request, and part-time members of staff who use Fridays as a non-work day will be given permission to take the time back on another day in March.
“The effort and dedication from all our staff doesn’t go unrecognised,” Jo Sellick added.
“This is just another way we can say we are truly thankful.”
Featured Image – Sellick Partnership
Business
Luxury Manchester gym Blok confirms permanent closure after weeks of uncertainty
Daisy Jackson
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure, weeks after the doors to the premium fitness facility mysteriously closed.
Around a fortnight ago, members began to arrive to their classes to find the gym on Ducie Street locked up and a forfeiture notice on the door – but at the time, Blok said that it was fighting to reopen.
Sadly, in an email sent to members today, its founder has confirmed that the studio is now permanently closed.
Blok – which has several very successful sites down in London – said that its relationship with its landlord has ‘broken down to a point where trust has been lost’.
The gym wrote that it’s been left with ‘no workable way forward’.
They said: “BLOK Manchester was a space built by our loyal and dedicated community. Whether you joined us for one class or one hundred, we are deeply grateful. You helped create something genuinely special in an incredible city.”
In the immediate future, they said they’ll be supporting the team of fantastic trainers who worked here, as well as looking after members.
Members will be contacted within a few hours with options and refunds owed.
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure. Credit: The Manc Group
CEO and founder Ed Stanbury said: “While this marks the end of a chapter, we don’t see it as the end of our story in Manchester. We’re already speaking with developers about potential future sites and remain committed to returning to the city when the time is right.
“Thank you for being part of our story so far. Let’s shape the future of wellness. The mission continues.”
Commenting on Blok’s Instagram post – its first in almost a fortnight – people have been sharing their sadness at the closure of its Manchester site.
One person wrote: “beautiful space, beautiful staff and beautiful community.”
Another said: “Sending love to all the instructors !! :(((( gutted”
Someone else commented: “THE BEST CLASSES. I’m gutted.”
‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Emily Sergeant -
1st March 2023 
